


Aftermath

by sans_souci2



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: 5.4 coda, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, mcdanno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 19:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2479874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sans_souci2/pseuds/sans_souci2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief coda fic to 5.4 .</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

The flight back from Columbia was long and as arduous a flight as Steve could remember. Danny’s pain was so raw and palpable it made him ache.

It was a deep in his gut ache only made worse by the face he couldn’t do a damn thing to help him.

They said nothing for the first two hours.

Danny refused dinner; Steve nodded at the flight attendant and accepted a tray but could only get a few bites down. As he took a sip of water he looked across the aisle and was glad he’d upgraded their tickets to first class. At least they didn’t have a seatmate.

“I knew all along he was probably already … gone,” Danny suddenly said. He turned to look at Steve, “I just couldn’t take the chance that…that he might still be alive.”

“Of course you couldn’t. You did exactly what I would have done.”

“Exactly?”

“Absolutely.”

Danny lowered his voice, “So you would have murdered the bastard too?”

“It wasn’t murder, Danny. Reyes killed Matt and for all we knew was going to have us killed. Call it self-defense. Call it justice. I don’t care what you call it; it was the right thing to do.”

“Then why do I feel like shit?”

“You feel like shit because your brother who you loved very much is dead-because all along you had held out hope. I don’t care how slim it was; it was hope. You worked around the clock to get the money Reyes demanded; you knocked yourself out to try and save Matt but in the end you couldn’t. That’s what you have every right to feel bad about. Reyes doesn’t deserve a passing thought.”

Danny didn’t answer. He turned and looked out the window at the black night sky for a while and then, without looking back, said softly, “You know for a split second there I let myself believe they were bringing Mattie to me; I called out to him-I didn’t want him to be scared anymore- I wanted him to know the worst…was over.”

“I remember that. I was looking past you, over your shoulder when you did it. A piece of me half expected to see Matt being hauled into the room with one of those wise ass grins on his face.”

“But instead they rolled… that drum in.”

Steve reached over and squeezed Danny’s leg; it killed him to see the single tear that rolled down his cheek. “You did all you could D. You did more than any other brother could have done.”

“But I didn’t… save him.”

“You’re right-you didn’t. Sometimes the people we love get into situations that no one can pull them out of. You can’t let it eat at you-you have to accept the fact that you did all you could.”

Danny swiped at his cheek and then turned to face Steve. “So my brain knows you’re right but m…my heart and my gut... feel like they’re being twisted inside out.”

To hell with the other passengers.

To hell with the concerned flight attendant who had her eye on them.

Steve made the decision without even knowing he had made it. He flipped the armrest between them up, slid closer to Danny and slipped his arm around him. “Com’ere you,” he murmured as he pulled him close. Lips up against Danny’s ear, his own eyes brimming, he whispered, “That’s because when you, Danny Williams love someone, you love them so hard and so completely that when they’re gone it’s like a piece of you has been ripped away. It’s what I love about you-the way you love Grace, the way you love me…the way you can’t love any way but totally and completely and absolutely.”

To hell with the other passengers.

Danny tacitly agreed with the plan. Head against Steve’s chest and eyes squeezed shut he gave in and let the sob fighting to work its way out of his throat escape.

It was like a god-awful dam breaking.

His shoulders shook.

He couldn’t stop the desperate, helpless sounds that bubbled up out of him.

He had no idea what he said-if he spoke at all.

It was like he was in the worst rip tide ever.

And the only thing that kept him from sinking to the bottom?

The only thing that kept him from giving in and giving up?

Steve’s muscular arms around him.

“It’s okay,” he said to Danny. “I’ve got you.”

He must have said it five maybe six times.

Not that Danny really heard the words.

It was all he could do to feel the arms wrapped tight around him as he sobbed.

It was all he could do to know that he was safe and loved.

It was all he could ask for.


End file.
